


Restoring the Balance

by zubeneschamali



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Commune, F/F, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:21:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21583711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zubeneschamali/pseuds/zubeneschamali
Summary: Jared grew up feeling like something was always missing from his life. When he finally finds what he's been searching for, three friends and the perfect place to live, he thinks he's set. But then he and his friends start falling ill, and they discover that it has to do with who—and what—they all are.
Relationships: Genevieve Cortese/Danneel Harris, Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Comments: 12
Kudos: 89
Collections: 2019 Supernatural Reversebang Challenge





	Restoring the Balance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mangacat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mangacat/gifts).



> After all of these years, I finally got to work with Mangacat, one of the first people I met in this fandom. Her art really called to me, and her suggestions of what to do with it sent me off in this direction. The banner is below, and her full art post is [here](https://mangacat201.livejournal.com/101547.html). If only all of our environmental problems could be solved in such a satisfying way!

Jared was only four years old when he realized something wasn't quite right.

He couldn't explain it to anyone, though, not Mama or Daddy or his big brother. He just felt wrong, like something was missing inside of him.

He was six when he tried to explain it to Mama. She got very quiet for a moment and then explained to him in her serious voice that sometimes boys felt like they were really girls, or that sometimes girls felt like they were really boys, and it was okay if he felt like that.

Jared didn't think that was it, and the doctor they made him talk to didn't think so, either. Mama and Daddy looked relieved, even if they still didn't know why he felt funny.

It was something he just learned to live with. When he was twelve, and his mother stumbled through The Talk, she told him it was okay if he liked boys instead of girls, or in addition to girls. He shrugged and said, "Okay."

It was a couple of years before he realized she might have been right about that one. But coming out as bi didn't help with that missing piece of him, the sense of not-rightness that always lurked in the back of his mind. The few friends he asked about it didn't seem to feel the same way, and Jared eventually learned to keep it to himself.

It was on his college tour when everything changed. He'd insisted on visiting schools in Southern California, unable to explain why he felt like he had to go there. So they spent spring break going to UCLA and UCR and CSU Pomona, which apparently was different from Pomona College, and they were all pretty campuses with nice views that seemed okay.

Then they got caught in traffic going back to the hotel, and Jared saw a sign for Orange College. "Can we go visit that one?"

Dad grumbled that it was probably some tiny podunk liberal arts college that charged two arms and a leg, and Mom fretted that they needed to pack before their flight home tomorrow. But as the road wound steeply up a hill, lined with orange trees and opening up into a picture-perfect campus nestled against a mountainside, Jared realized that he'd never felt more like he was at home.

There were only about a dozen buildings, so they found the admissions office easily. It was too late for a tour, but the nice young woman at the front desk gave them a pile of brochures and told them to look around. 

Even Jared's mom seemed enchanted with the place. The buildings were all Spanish-style, gathered around a small but neatly-manicured lawn. Orange and lemon trees dotted the grounds, and a group of students gathered on the lawn seemed to be having a class. 

Back outside the admissions building, a tour group was just finishing up. There were about a dozen people gathered there, kids and parents just like Jared and his folks. His eyes were drawn to one guy in particular, almost as tall as Jared with spiky blond hair.

When the guy turned around and their eyes met, Jared felt something like an electric shock. It wasn't recognition, exactly, it was more like that same feeling of home he'd encountered upon entering the campus.

The guy's green eyes widened, like he'd felt it, too. 

Before Jared could say anything, the group was moving on, and his parents were going in the other direction, insisting that traffic was going to be horrible and that they needed to get moving. Jared protested, but in vain.

When they got home, though, he insisted that he was going to Orange College.

Fall came, and Jared packed two huge suitcases and got on a plane to L.A. There was someone there to meet him from the college, and someone else to show him to his dorm and the room he was going to share. "It's another guy from Texas, like you," the resident head said. "We thought that would make you feel more at home."

When his roommate walked in later that afternoon, and it turned out to be the guy he'd seen on his visit, Jared's grin split his face.

Later that evening, when the move-in festivities were over and they had met all of their fellow dormmates, Jared asked Jensen how he'd ended up at Orange.

"I don't know, man," he said. "I came across their website as part of my college search, and it just felt right, you know? And then I visited, and it was like, bam."

"Do you remember seeing me? On your visit?"

"Yeah, I do! It was right at the end, wasn't it? I felt like I already knew you, but I didn't get a chance to say anything."

"This whole place is weird like that," Jared said. "Or really, it's like everything else has been weird, and this place is where I finally fit in."

"I know, right? I never felt like I belonged so much as when I got to campus." Jensen's smile turned surprisingly shy for someone who looked so confident. "Or as when I met you."

Jared grinned back at him, ignoring the flip of butterflies in his stomach. 

The first week of classes went very well. Jared only shared one class with Jensen, an introduction to English literature that Jared was sure was going to be the first part of his major, and that Jensen was only grudgingly taking despite his chemistry major. But all of his classes seemed interesting, and his fellow students, most of whom were from California, were friendly and welcoming.

It was the second week of class when Jared felt that same shock of recognition. This time, it was during the literature lecture, when he caught the eye of a tall redhead across the lecture hall. She initially looked startled, but then a warm smile spread across her face. She looked at Jensen, sitting beside Jared, and then her smile grew bigger. 

Her name was Danneel, and she lived in the only other dorm on the small campus. She was from Louisiana, and like Jared, she'd been visiting other schools in California, but once she happened across this one, her choice was made. She was majoring in atmospheric science, so she and Jensen hit it off right away as fellow science nerds.

The rest of the semester was the best time Jared had ever had. That nagging feeling he'd always had about not fitting it seemed to have faded to a dull roar. He still felt like something was missing sometimes, but only on occasion. He and Jensen and Danneel were inseparable, to the point where their neighbors across the hall started to tease them about having threesomes.

Jensen had blushed dark red at that, which Jared thought was _highly_ interesting, but he didn't say a word. They'd all gotten to be such good friends that Jared didn't want to ruin it by acting on the attraction he'd developed for Jensen. And, truth be told, for Danneel as well.

When Jared went home for winter break, his parents started wondering out loud if he was dating Jensen, given how he couldn't stop talking about him. So he tried to talk about his other friends, but everyone else he'd met was really just a casual acquaintance or a forced partner from a group assignment. 

He did get nervous when he told his mom that he was thinking of changing his major after the awesome intro class he was taking on ecology. "There's this professor who studies fire ecology, and we went on a field trip to a site that had burned recently, and it was so cool!"

"I thought you always wanted to be an English teacher."

"I did. I mean, I do. But I don't know, this just kind of grabbed me. I'm going to take the second semester class before I change my mind, though."

"Well, whatever you decide is what we'll support, honey." His mom patted his hand. "We just want you to be happy."

Jared gave her a big hug. "Thanks for letting me go so far away to college, Mom."

"Oh, honey. Of course! I mean, it didn't hurt that they were willing to offer you such a big scholarship." She winked.

Jared enjoyed being at home, but it was so much better to get back to Orange. He just felt better when he was there, and when Jensen and Danneel were there, too. They stayed up all night in Jared and Jensen's room talking about their families, and what they'd done for Christmas, and how long it was until spring break. Danneel's roommate had decided not to come back after break, and she wasn't looking forward to getting to know someone else.

"We should go somewhere together," Jensen said. "All three of us."

They talked it over for a while, but there was nowhere they all agreed on. Finally, Danneel said, "Can we just stay here? Do they keep the dorms open?"

"Are you staying in the dorms next year?" Jared asked, and before long, they had all agreed to rent a house together next year. Most students stayed on campus, but there was a small neighborhood just up the hill where a lot of students liked to rent. Jensen was already looking at prices on his laptop, and Jared chuckled.

The next morning, there was a quiet knock on the door. Jared lifted his head from where he'd fallen asleep, realizing only then that it was Jensen's thigh he was using as a pillow. Danneel was curled up in Jared's bed, lightly snoring.

He stumbled to the door and opened it to find a petite brunette with dark eyes that widened as they met his. "Holy shit," they said at the same time.

Genevieve was a new transfer student who'd desperately wanted to come to Orange College in the fall, but had to persuade her parents first. Since Danneel was the only female student with an open bunk, she'd been placed there. "The resident head told me that if I wanted to find you, this was probably the best place to look. But I never—" She shook her head as she looked around at the three of them. "This is weird, right?"

"It doesn't feel weird, though, does it?" Danneel asked. "It feels right." 

Genevieve quickly became part of their circle, and after a few weeks, Jared realized that the last of his lifelong feeling of not-belonging had vanished entirely. Genevieve was an earth sciences major, and that was what got Jared to finally switch over to ecology. "I can't be the only non-nerd around here."

"Dude, you're a nerd no matter what you study," Jensen returned.

" _Dude_ , you sound like you're from California already!" Genevieve laughed. She was from Idaho, and she was loving the warm January weather.

When they found a place to live for their sophomore year, they made sure it had four bedrooms. And when they went to check it out in March, right before spring break, there was no question that it was where they were going to stay. The same sense of homecoming met them as soon as they walked in the door of the Craftsman style house built on the peak of a small hill overlooking campus. The view was expansive, with snow-capped peaks visible in the distance in one direction and rolling sage-and-sand hills in the other. Jared missed the bluebonnets of home sometimes, but he had to admit that this was pretty special.

Spring break passed with them all staying in the dorms, renting a car and exploring the area around them. Jensen had the best time of all of them at the beach, even if it seemed like he did little more than wade into the ocean and stare at the waves. Danneel loved the beach for the cool breezes, welcome even in March. Hiking in the hills was what Genevieve loved the best.

Jared loved all of it. So much so, that when his ecology professor offered him a summer internship working on fire ecology, he accepted it without even checking with his parents. They were surprised, but not displeased, and he was thrilled to be sticking around for the summer.

Jensen found a job with on of the chemistry labs on campus looking at water quality in one of the nearby rivers. Danneel and Genevieve got internships on a computer modeling project looking at landslides in the next valley over from the campus. They were able to start renting the house early, and so began the best summer of Jared's life.

At first, it wasn't weird at all living in the same house. After all, they'd been roommates before, and certainly had spent enough time together. And given that they were away at work all day, they actually saw less of each other than during the school year.

But things were subtly different. 

For one, it was warmer outside, so everyone was walking around in less clothing. Jensen kept hanging out in just his boxers, and while Jared desperately wanted to do the same, he was afraid it would reveal just how much he enjoyed both Jensen's shirtless state and Danneel's tiny tank tops.

For another, Jared caught Genevieve and Danneel kissing one night on the porch.

That led to some awkward conversations about how they weren't really all dating each other, no matter what everyone else on campus seemed to think, and it was okay if Jared and Jensen wanted to go at it, and then Jensen asked if they'd heard of polyamory, and Jared had promptly taken the rest of the six-pack they'd been drinking to his room and tried to get drunk off of it.

Jensen found him the next morning sitting on the porch, watching the sun rise over the distant mountains. "You all right?"

"I've had worse hangovers."

"'s not what I meant." Jensen dropped onto the swing next to him. "If you don't want to be roommates anymore—"

"God, no, why would you think that?"

"Because you ran out of the room like a house on fire when I suggested we could explore something new about our relationship?"

Jared shook his head. "It's not that. It's just—I don't want to fuck this up. I feel like I spent my whole life trying to fit in, and everything is perfect with you guys and this place."

"Maybe it'll make it better." 

It felt like Jensen was holding his breath. When Jared turned to him, it was the nervous expression on his face that paradoxically calmed Jared down. If Jensen was nervous about this, it meant that he wasn't sure, either. But he still wanted to take that risk. So how could Jared say no?

Their first kiss was tentative, slow. The second one was deeper and more thorough, and by the third one, Jensen was straddling Jared's lap, the swing rocking back and forth with a squeal. Jared smiled against his mouth and pulled him closer, and then the number of kisses dissolved into a general making-out session that was the best he'd ever had.

The next morning, Genevieve caught Jared coming out of Jensen's room. She grinned widely. "Finally."

"You aren't—that's okay?" Jensen blurted out from the bed, sheets pulled up to his waist.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Jared here thinks that we're all supposed to be living like one happy family with no one pairing up with anyone."

"And you're the one who said we should all be pairing up with each other."

Jensen held up his hands. "I was just asking about a concept."

Genevieve snorted. "Sure you were."

Jared turned around. "Does that mean—is that what you want? To see other people?"

Jensen shook his head, a soft smile on his face. "No. I want to get to know _you_ , Jared."

They smiled at each other for a moment, until Genevieve let out a sigh. "Okay. Now that we've got that settled, can Danneel and I watch?"

Things went on after that pretty much as they had been, except they were now two couples in the same house. Only two of the bedrooms were used on a regular basis—the two at the opposite ends of the main hallway. Jared felt even more at home than he had before, more comfortable with himself than ever, and when he asked Jensen, he felt the same way. 

Of course, that was when things started to go off the rails. And not because anything that any of them did. 

Danneel was the first one of them to fall sick. 

It was late summer, and the whole metro area was under an ozone alert for the third day in a row. At first, they thought it was something to do with the poor air quality that had her pale and exhausted and barely able to get out of bed. But the doctor said her respiratory system was fine, and since she had no history of asthma, that probably wasn't it. She was just working too hard and needed to take a break.

Then a few weeks later, right after their sophomore year started, Genevieve fell ill the same way. At first, they thought she was just tired from staying up all night following Twitter after a 5.4 quake along the San Andreas Fault, only a few miles away. But as the days went by and she continued to get out of breath walking up the hill to their house, or climbing a flight of stairs on campus, they knew it wasn't something so simple. The campus clinic was no more helpful this time, even suggesting that it might be something communicable from Danneel like mono.

A month passed, and the women seemed to be getting a little better. They still weren't as active as they had been, but they could get around okay. Jared and Jensen were worried sick about them, but the doctors couldn't find any signs that it was serious.

Fall wore on, and southern California prepared for the rainy season. Except it didn't come. Months passed, and by mid-December, there was still no measurable rainfall.

And then Jensen fell ill the same way. He was tired and weak, like he'd gotten the flu, but there were no reported cases of it on campus, and they didn't really go anywhere else except the grocery store once a week. Jared tried to take care of him the best he could, but as with the women, it seemed all he could do was rest. 

Unlike them, however, Jensen didn't seem to get better. They all came back from Christmas break, glad as always to be back at Orange College, but Jensen looked terrible. 

It was only a week into the term when they had to evacuate. A wildfire had sprung up on the hill overlooking campus, sparked by who knew what but fueled by the exceptionally dry winter. The college put everyone up in hotels, even those who lived off campus like Jared and his friends. Firefighters worked all through the night, and although one of the campus buildings was lost, there were no injuries, and it looked like the rest would be okay.

In the morning, Jared could barely get out of bed. As soon as Danneel saw him, her face fell. "Oh no. Not you, too."

He started to understand what they'd all been going through. On the one hand, he felt fine—no symptoms like coughing, or a sore throat, or a fever. It was just like the life had been drained out of him and he could barely manage to get through his day without collapsing. The campus doctor thought it was stress from the evacuation and he'd be fine once they went home.

But he wasn't fine. And then Danneel got sick again, as more wildfires raged throughout the Los Angeles Valley and the air quality dropped with all of the smoke in the air. It still hadn't rained more than a few drops all winter, making the fires even more dangerous. Jensen continued to worsen, skipping class a couple of days a week because he couldn't make it out of bed.

When the Dean of the school came to see them at home, Jared knew that something was seriously wrong.

To his surprise, Dr. Rhodes didn't berate them for missing class, nor wonder why they hadn't figured out what was wrong with them yet. Instead, she said, "There's someone here who says she needs to talk to you."

Jared frowned. "Who?"

"Her name is Ruth Connell. She's a alumna of the college, and she says she heard about the four of you being sick." She shook her head. "I don't think she's a doctor, but she says she can help."

"We'd be happy to meet with her," Genevieve said. "At this point, we'll try anything."

Ruth was a petite red-haired woman with a charming accent who instantly made them feel all at ease. She insisted that they all sit while she prepared them some tea that she'd brought. Jared and Jensen exchanged glances, but they drank it, and it was actually pretty good. He even felt a little more energy afterwards, not the jittery pep from caffeine, but something more substantial.

They were all sitting on the back patio, the hills looming behind them. It was a sunny day, and Jared briefly tilted his head back to let the sun fall on his face. When he straightened up, Ruth was watching him with a small, enigmatic smile.

Before he could ask anything, she said, "Now then. You've all had some tea, and I'm sure you'll have some questions for me in a minute. But I want you to wait until I explain some things, okay?"

Jared exchanged a glance with the others, but they all remained silent.

"All right. Let me start by asking you a question. You've always felt different, right? Like you never fit in, but you didn't quite know why?"

"How did you know that?" Danneel asked, at the same time Genevieve said, "Until we came here."

Ruth smiled at Genevieve. "That's right. This school has been here for a long time, you know. As long as there have been white settlers in this part of the world. And before that, it was a place of learning as well. There's something about this site that has called people to it over the years. You four are only the latest."

"Why us?" Jensen asked. "And what does it have to do with us being sick?"

"As I said, many people have felt called here over the years. For most of them, they simply found this a nice place to live, or maybe to visit. They returned to their homes and considered this a fond memory, but nothing more. Others…have been marked as something different. Something fundamental."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you've always been different. You've always been special, all four of you." Ruth took a deep breath. "You are what some people would say are embodiments, or what others would say are reincarnations."

Jared's eyebrows shot up. "We're reincarnated?" Across from him, Genevieve was making a face.

"No, I wouldn't say that exactly. That is to say, some would, depending on their theological perspective. I think it's not so much that you have lived before, but that something that is within you has lived before."

"Seriously?" Jensen was glaring at her. "This is what you came here to tell us? That we're possessed or something?"

"You represent something," Ruth said. "Each of you stands for something larger than yourselves. You've always felt it, Jensen. All of you have. And it was only when you all came together that everything fit into place."

"What are you saying we represent?" Jared asked.

"The four elements. Air, fire, water, and earth."

There was silence for a moment. Then Danneel scoffed. "You just looked up our majors or something. I don't know what kind of scam you're running here, but it's not going to work."

"You feel an affinity for the element you represent," Ruth went on as if Danneel hadn't spoken. "That is why you became sick when it was affected."

"Air quality," Genevieve said, turning to Danneel. "You got sick when the ozone alert days started. And you came here to study atmospheric science."

"And you're a geology major because you like earthquakes," Danneel replied. "And Jared studies fire ecology, and Jensen's into water quality. Like that's hard to figure out. And of course I got sick when the air quality was bad, and Jared when the fires put all of that smoke in the air. That happens to people all the time."

"But how would an earthquake make someone sick?" Jared asked. "Or a drought?"

Danneel shook her head impatiently. "It's a coincidence. There's no way this is real."

"What about your feelings for each other?" Ruth asked. "The way the four of you fit together so well. Most people aren't like that."

"We just get along," Danneel shrugged. "We always have."

"But some of us more than others." Jensen gestured between himself and Jared. "Is that part of this thing, too?"

"It's very likely, yes," Ruth said. "You share an affinity among you, but you're drawn the most strongly to your opposite. Fire and water, earth and air."

Jared thought about that for a moment. If he suspended his disbelief for a moment, pretended that such a thing as reincarnation or embodiment or whatever was possible, it made a certain kind of sense. Other students talked about practical reasons for choosing a major, like wanting to get a high-paying job or wanting to satisfy their parents. Hardly anyone was like the four of them, drawn to a particular subject for no apparent reason. 

And there was definitely _something_ that had brought them all to this place and to each other. There was no denying that. They had talked about it any number of times, speculated if it was something biological or psychological or spiritual that pulled them together. But they'd never decided on an answer.

"Let's assume for a moment that you're right," Genevieve said, holding out a hand as if to forestall Danneel's objection. "What does this have to do with us being sick?"

Ruth let out a sigh. "Well, now. That's a more complicated question."

"You told Dr. Rhodes that you knew something," Jensen said. "Does she know this…" He waved a hand at her. "This story about the elements?"

"No. No else knows anymore. It's been a long time since people were drawn to this place. A long time since I had to explain it to anyone." A shadow fell across her face, and Jared shivered. She went on, "It's a matter of balance. It's the Earth itself that's sick. Humans have done too much to her. She expresses her sickness as best she can, through her shivers and fevers and headaches, and sometimes that's enough. Sometimes the cause of the sickness goes away, or at least abates for a time. But sometimes, it becomes too much, and she has to express it through her Elementals."

Genevieve sat up straighter. "Are you saying the Earth is alive?"

"In a manner of speaking. She's not sentient. But she needs certain things in order to exist, like air and water that are pure and clean. And those are in short supply these days."

"Why take it out on us?" Jared asked. "What did we do?"

"Oh, it's not something you did, my dear boy. It's who you are. And it's what you can do for her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jensen asked.

She sighed again. "This part is a little more delicate."

"This ought to be good," Danneel muttered, and Genevieve glared at her.

"Traditionally, one of the things the Elementals could do was to take action against what was causing the Earth's suffering," Ruth said. "If the waters were being poisoned, they would go to the source of that poison and stop it. If the air was being dirtied, they would work with the humans that were causing it to make it clean again."

"So this has happened before?" Jared asked.

"Oh goodness, yes. Not only here, either. There are sites like this around the world, where people have been drawn together over the ages. In fact, there are other such sites right now, where people have fallen sick like you for much the same reasons. What's different than before is how big this is. It's not just about the area around us. It's about the whole planet."

"So we need to what, all work together somehow?"

"You could say that." Ruth pursed her lips and then went on. "If the Earth is out of balance, if humans have gone too far away from their original interactions with her, the Elementals need to restore that interaction. With each other. In a…primitive form, if you will." 

They all stared at her, and she sighed. "Sex."

"You've got to be kidding me." Danneel stood up, hands on her hips. "This is just some perverted game you're playing with us, isn't it?"

Jared started, "Dani, it makes a lot of sense—"

"No, it doesn't! It's ridiculous! It's like something out of a bad young adult fantasy novel. Except for that last part." She pointed at Ruth. "That's just wrong."

"I can put you in contact with other people who can confirm what I'm saying." Ruth looked unflustered despite Danneel's angry shouts. "People like you in other parts of the world, who have done what you need to do."

"And what do you get out of this?" Danneel asked. "Are you going to film us or something?"

"Goodness, no. No one can be there for the ritual except the four of you. And it's not like I'm asking you to have an orgy or something. It's just what I gather you already engage in as couples, plus a few herbs to burn and some words to say. That's all."

"What, right here in the house?" Jensen asked. "Not naked under the moonlight?"

Jared suddenly pictured Jensen riding him out in the open, under the nighttime sky, and he had to shift a little in his seat.

"There's a reason this house called to you," Ruth was saying. "Just like this whole place did. It's built on a fault line of sorts. Not the kind that produces earthquakes, but a place of power nonetheless. It's why you haven't gotten sicker than you already have. You draw strength from this place, whether you realize it or not. Dr. Rhodes told me none of you went home for the summer, is that right?" When they nodded, she sat back, a satisfied look on her face.

Genevieve asked, "So say we do this ritual or whatever. We won't be sick anymore?"

"It's more than that, my dears. You must have noticed that even for California, there's been an awful lot going on around here. Between the drought and the fires and the earthquakes and the bad air…it's not normal."

"All of those things are cyclical," Jensen said. "They come and go. It's a consequence of the climate, and the day-to-day weather, and the plate tectonics."

"To some extent," Ruth replied. "And yes, all four of your elements occasionally act in the extreme, and they will continue to do so from time to time. That's, as you say, just the way things are. But they don't usually go to extremes like this all at once. Not like this. And not just here."

"What do you mean?" Jared asked.

"Don't you follow the news, dear boy? Last week there was not only a bushfire in Australia, there was an earthquake. They never have earthquakes. It hasn't rained for a week in Hawaii, when normally it rains there every day. The volcanoes are erupting just fine, though, setting the forests on fire."

"So it's not just us being sick," Genevieve said. "It's a lot bigger than that."

"Your illness is a symptom. What I'm suggesting should be the cure."

"Should be?"

"It's always worked before. There's some concern that it might be too much for even the elementals this time."

"But there are more people like us," Jared said. "It's not just up to us."

"No, there are people being told a similar story in multiple places around the world. No doubt many of them are as skeptical as you are." Ruth clasped her hands in her lap. "I know it's a lot to take in, and it sounds like a children's story. But you know that you've always been different. And you know there is something special about this place, and about each other. Let that guide you."

They were quiet for a moment, thinking about her words. Finally, Jensen said, "Can you leave us alone for a minute?"

"Of course." Ruth gracefully rose to her feet and gathered their tea cups. "I'll just give these a wash."

When she was gone, Jensen turned to Jared. "What do you think?"

Jared ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know. I mean, what she said at the end made sense. There is something different about us, something we've never been able to explain. And here's an explanation. What if it's true?"

"It's just crazy." Danneel sat back with a thump. "Elementals? It can't be real."

"You have to admit, the timing works," Genevieve said. "Think about when we've all gotten sick. It lines up."

Jensen said, "That could be sheer coincidence. We only have four data points here, and Dani and Jared getting sick from bad air and smoke is hardly something supernatural."

"So what if she's making this up?" Jared asked. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"I don't know, she films us having some crazy sex ritual and puts it on the internet."

Genevieve's eyebrows shot up. "She said it had to be just the four of us. Nothing kinky." She lowered her voice. "Unless we want it to be."

Jared felt his cheeks flush, and Gen grinned. "C'mon, like you haven't thought about it," she said, nudging Danneel with an elbow.

"Shut up," Danneel muttered, and Jared's cheeks went even hotter.

In the end, they decided to give it a try. Jensen's worst-that-could-happen seemed pretty far-fetched, and it wasn't like there was much else they could try. They were all tired of being tired, barely able to make it to class and back, barely able to get through the day sometimes.

Ruth left them with a few bags of herbs with very detailed instructions attached. They included a few phrases in a language none of them had ever heard of, with pronunciations spelled out alongside them. She'd also left a couple of phone numbers of fellow elementals in other parts of the world in case they wanted to discuss things.

By unspoken agreement, though, they kept it to themselves. It had been the four of them together ever since they'd met; they didn't see the need to involve anyone else now.

They waited for a weekend when they were all feeling relatively strong. Despite Ruth's detailed instructions, she'd been quite vague about what kind of physical activity they needed to carry out. Still, it wouldn't do to be completely exhausted before they even started. Again, not that they explicitly discussed it; it just seemed to be understood.

They started by brewing some of the herbs into a tea, using the small kettle that Ruth had left them. They weren't sure if it had to be in that kettle or not, but best not to risk it, they supposed.

It tasted the same as the tea she had made them before, and Jared started to relax. He'd been worried about it being some kind of aphrodisiac or something, but it just tasted like herbal tea.

They were sitting around the living room, Jared and Jensen on the sofa, Gen and Danneel on the love seat. There was a pillar candle burning on the coffee table, with their tea cups encircling it. That hadn't been part of the instructions, but Gen said it felt like they should light a candle, and they'd all agreed.

After their teacups were empty, Genevieve read the next item on the instructions. "In a copper bowl, light the contents of the second packet and let them burn out all the way."

"Did she include a copper bowl?" Danneel asked. "Because I'm pretty sure we don't have one."

"Oh, wait!" Jared sprang to his feet. In the kitchen on the top shelf of one of the cupboards was a set of copper mugs he'd gotten in case they started drinking something more upscale than beer. "Here," he said, setting one down on the coffee table.

"That's not a bowl," Danneel said.

"Close enough." Genevieve shook out the herbs into the mug and lit a match, carefully dropping it inside.

The smell that rose up was sharp but warm. It reminded Jared of the way the California hills smelled in the summertime, of sage and dry grass.

They waited in silence as the herbs continued to burn. Wisps of smoke rose up, but quickly dissipated. Jared relaxed back into the sofa cushions, content to watch the smoke rise.

It took about fifteen minutes until the flame died out. "Is that it?" Danneel asked. "Or do we have to wait until it stops smoking?"

"What's the next step?" Jensen asked.

"Um. This is the delicate part." Genevieve glanced at all of them and then back at the paper. "All it says is that we need to join together as opposites or as a whole. While the smoke is still in the air."

"Hope you don't take too long," Jensen said with a poke to Jared's shoulder.

"Ha ha." He looked back at Gen, the nerves in his stomach twisting around with the beginnings of arousal. "Here?"

"I don't think so? I mean, the smoke must be everywhere in the house, right? At least in small amounts?"

"Sure. We can both go to our rooms, I guess."

"We could." Genevieve paused. Then, not breaking eye contact with Jared, she leaned across and pulled Danneel into a kiss.

Jared felt a little warm. They were certainly affectionate in front of each other; that was hard to avoid when living in the same house. But the intent in Gen's eyes, not to mention the slow slide of her hand up Dani's arm, suggested something else.

He jumped a little when Jensen touched the back of his neck. He let Jensen nudge him closer, and then they were kissing, too. Jared relaxed into it, letting the familiar feel of Jensen's mouth against his warm him from the inside out.

A moment later, Jensen's hands were sliding up the back of his shirt, warm and firm against his skin. Jared murmured appreciatively and broke away to pull his t-shirt over his head. He tugged at the bottom of Jensen's shirt with a small grin, and Jensen instantly pulled his shirt off as well.

In the back of his mind, Jared was aware that this wasn't just a makeout session on the couch. There was a purpose to what they were doing, and that made it a little strange. The gentle scent of the herbal smoke still hung in the air, and as he licked his way back into Jensen's mouth, he could taste the tea they'd both had to drink.

But touching Jensen somehow always managed to pull Jared out of the world, narrowing everything down to the feel and smell and taste of the man next to him. And as Jensen's hands roamed up and down his back, sometimes teasing beneath the waistband of his shorts, this time was no exception.

Jared barely noticed when they wriggled around to remove their shorts, only concentrating on the need to get as much of Jensen's skin next to him as he could. Even the soft moans he could hear from the love seat were only background noise, not a distraction. He had naked Jensen beside him, and with a heave of his arms, he had naked Jensen in his lap.

Jensen instantly took both of them in one hand, and Jared let out a long, low groan. He had the presence of mind to match the movement so that their hands were clasped together around their cocks as they started to thrust past each other. He leaned up to nibble at Jensen's neck, suck a mark into his collarbone, while his other hand grabbed a handful of Jensen's ass to hold him close.

Over Jensen's shoulder, Jared saw Gen and Dani on the loveseat, naked and panting. Dani was on her back on the cushions, one leg on the floor. Gen was on top of her, lying between her legs, one hand between their bodies. Her mouth was sucking at one of Danneel's breasts, the other one being teased by her fingers.

Danneel met Jared's eyes, and the heat in her gaze almost made him come right there. He grunted into Jensen's ear before spreading his hand wide over Jensen's ass, one finger inching between his cheeks.

Jensen arched back, spreading his legs wider across Jared's thighs. He started to move faster within their clasped hands, panting into Jared's ears.

Danneel's moan sounded almost painful, and then she was sitting up and hauling Gen into her lap, her hand coming down between them. Gen cried out and held onto Danneel's shoulders as she rubbed against her hand. She turned her head and met Jared's gaze, her eyes wide and dark. 

When she closed her eyes and arched back with a cry, Jared thrust sharply against Jensen. He felt Jensen's body start to shake at the same moment that he came, both of them thrusting hard against each other as they clutched each other close.

Danneel was bucking against Gen, head thrown back and hair streaming down her back as she rode it out. Then they were kissing, tenderly enough that Jared felt like he should look away.

Jensen was there to meet him, cupping his face in one hand and giving him a long, slow kiss that brought Jared right back to himself. He held onto Jensen, feeling their heartbeats slow together. 

Danneel was the first to speak. "Wow. Even if Ruth was making everything up, it was totally worth it just for that."

Gen giggled, and they fell back against the couch, Gen laying her head between Danneel's breasts. "You guys okay over there?"

"Awesome," Jensen said, throwing a thumbs up over his shoulder.

Jared nudged his chin, encouraging him to go ahead and look. Jensen turned his head and took in the two women on the loveseat, as naked and satisfied as the two of them. He cleared his throat and looked back at Jared. "We, uh, was there something we needed to do next? For the ritual?"

"I kind of forgot about the ritual," Jared admitted.

Jensen broke into a huge grin. "I know, I'm that awesome."

"Here." Danneel reached out and snagged the sheet of paper from the coffee table. "There's another set of herbs to burn, and some words to say while we do it."

"We don't have to be naked, do we?" Jensen asked.

"Is someone feeling shy?" Jared teased.

"Maybe sticky more than shy."

Jared screwed up his nose, realizing they were sitting in the living room and in danger of staining their only decent furniture. "Here, get off. Let me get some washcloths."

One of the nice things about their house being as isolated as it was was that there was no risk of neighbors seeing inside. So Jared padded to the linen closet and the bathroom and back without thinking of putting any clothes on. It was kind of nice, actually. 

Once they were cleaned up and dressed again, Danneel lit the final sachet on fire and dropped it in the copper mug. She read the words aloud from the page, and then dropped the paper in after the herbs. "That's it."

Genevieve looked around. "Did it do anything?"

"I feel pretty good," Jared said. "Better than I have in weeks."

"That's just the sex," Jensen said loftily. 

Jared snickered. "Look, if sex was the way to cure us, I think that would have worked some time ago."

"Maybe we all had to be together," Genevieve said.

"Just think of how much better we'd feel if we really were _all together_ ," Danneel added, wrapping her arms around Genevieve and eyeing Jared and Jensen.

Jared raised his eyebrows. "You…really?"

"Like you didn't enjoy watching us," Gen shot back. "And vice versa. Would've been easier if we were within touching distance."

Jensen shifted in his seat, and Gen shot him a victorious grin.

Clearing his throat, Jared said, "We can talk about that later. Right now, I want to know how we know it worked."

There was a soft rustling sound. They all looked up, and then out the window.

Raindrops were starting to fall.

Jensen let out a whoop and leaned back against Jared. "Let the fall rains begin."

"Usually you're the skeptic," Jared said, poking him in the side. "It's late January. What if it was just time for the rain to finally start?"

"There wasn't any in the forecast for weeks," Jensen said. "The drought was supposed to continue. This…this is something else."

They sat there quietly and listened to the rain fall. Jared didn't feel any different, but then he supposed that processes that worked at climatic and geologic scales wouldn't turn on a dime. It might take a while to know for sure if Ruth's ritual had worked.

And in the meantime…maybe they had some things to figure out on their own.

One year later

"Jared, come on, we're going to be late!"

"Just a minute!" He finished brushing his hair and checked to make sure there was nothing between his teeth. Tonight was a special night, and he wanted things to be perfect.

They walked down to campus together, Gen and Dani holding hands and Jared and Jensen with their arms around each others' waists. Their fellow students still thought it was strange how they spent so much time together despite living together. The whispers about how they weren't just two couples had increased last year, at least until the gossips found something else to speculate about. On the one hand, Jared hadn't minded so much because it was kind of true, but he also didn't want that to be public knowledge. What the four of them had was special, would always be special, and if other people though they were standoffish because of that, then so be it.

The autumn rains had started on time last October, and the hillsides around them were a lovely sage green. There hadn't been any more major fires once the rains started, just a few small ones here and there. Jared's professor had taken Jared along on a research trip over winter break, and Jared was thrilled to be able to study what he was drawn to so close up.

But there had been a fire a year ago, one that had burned a few campus buildings before subsiding. The rain that had ended the fire had come out of nowhere, and the ceremony that was being held to mark the one-year anniversary of the fire and the reopening of the new, replacement building was as much a thanksgiving as it was anything else.

The four of them knew what had really happened, and why the only earthquakes over the past year had been mild ones, barely noticeable to humans. Even the air quality had been better than normal in the summer, to the relief of everyone who had stayed around over the summer. 

And though it hadn't happened immediately, their mysterious sicknesses had all gone away. The campus doctor thought maybe the rain had washed some kind of allergen out of the air, but other than that, he'd had no explanation.

They stood at the back of the crowd, all holding hands. Over the heads of the crowd, Jared saw Dean Rhodes preparing to cut the ribbon to open the new building.

"Quite a lovely campus you have here."

They turned in unison to see Ruth standing next to Genevieve. She went on, "It's a shame they can't thank the people who are really responsible."

"So you'd rather be up there on the podium than back here with us?" Danneel asked.

"Oh, goodness, no. I didn't do anything. You carried out the instructions perfectly, it seems."

"What about the others like us?" Jared asked. "Were they successful as well?"

"Does that mean you're still not reading the news?" she asked reproachfully.

"We have a lot of homework," he replied.

"Mmm-hmm. Well, some have been successful and some haven't. Or at least, some haven't been as open-minded as the four of you. I was hoping you might be able to talk to them and persuade them that this is all real."

"Sure, we can do that," Jared said. 

"It might involve some travel," she said. "Sometimes it's easier for Elementals to understand what's going on when they meet others like them and can sense that they're telling the truth."

Jared exchanged a glance with Jensen. "We're not—I mean, it's not like we have extra-sensory abilities or anything."

She leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Your special powers didn't come in after the ritual?"

"Our what now?" Danneel asked.

Ruth kept a straight face for a moment longer before breaking out into quiet laughter. "Oh, forgive me, it was just too good," she said with a hand to Danneel's arm. "No, the only way you might feel different is a stronger bond among yourselves, and to this place. I know it might be asking a lot for you to travel, but it is needed, believe me."

"If we can help other people like us, it'll be worth it," Jensen said. "I not only feel better physically, I just—I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. Like I've found where I belong and what fulfills me, and I know a lot of people never reach that in their whole lives."

"Same," Jared said, squeezing his hand. "We'd love to bring that feeling to other people as well."

"And, you know, save the world," Genevieve added.

Jared grinned at her. It was a tall order, but they'd always been different from everyone else. He had faith they could do it—all four of them, together.


End file.
